Today we are showcasing 20 incredible illustrations crafted by professional artists and designers from around the world. Hopefully, these excellent pieces of artwork will inspire your own creative work. Some of these illustrations are cute, others are ultra modern, but always an „explosion of colors“.

Pierre Kleinhouse is an award-winning illustrator & visual designer. He likes to draw animals, plants, and characters, mixing his digital work with textures and old school techniques like silk screen printing.

Recently, we have compiled a list of 30 of the best tutorials for Photoshop that were aimed to help practice your skills and extend your knowledge. Today is the turn of Illustrator, the most popular software for crafting vector artworks and designs. Traditionally, this advanced graphics program has a vector-related environment that most digital artists find comfortable. It is applicable for projects that need to be scaled to any degree without losing quality and sharpness. Prints, posters, illustrations, cartoons are preferably done here. It is also pretty flexible on different issues due to providing tools that give full control over objects.

Our list comprises how-tos both for newbies and creative folks with intermediate level. Some tutorials can be challenging and hard at first sight; however it does not mean that you can’t reap benefits from them. You can easily repeat all the steps paying meticulous attention to details, and as a result, end up with a rather satisfactory outcome, to say nothing about obtaining insights of some interesting techniques.

There can be a time that you are working on a design that would go well with a globe of the earth. Where to start? Searching for the perfect globe clip art can be a tedious task. Not to mention it would sure need to be in your custom style, with individual line widths, colors and probably rotated to your preferred location. One Stop Map has released a free vector globe that can do exactly that. Let us introduce you to it.

The PowerGlobe for Illustrator is a free download that can get you up and running in no time with your next project. The globe itself is an Adobe Illustrator CS6 file (compatible up to the latest version of Creative Cloud) that lets you quickly edit the looks and content of your globe. With just one click you can rotate it to the location you need. Three distinct map styles are already included, but nothing is stopping you from altering the content the way you want.

The Blueprint Globe Project

I am going to show you just how easy it is to change the look of the globe.

We are going to create a globe with a look inspired by blueprints.

You can read all the details on how to work with the PowerGlobe on the product page itself, or you can follow along as I demonstrate just how easy it is to edit this globe.

Open up the PowerGlobe in Illustrator. Select everything on the layer ‘PowerGlobe’ and click once on the graphic style ‘(country) Brazil’. This will rotate the globe, so Brazil is in the center of it.

You can quickly select all objects on one layer by clicking on the layer name while pressing the ALT-key.

Now go to the Symbols palette and duplicate the symbol ‘World vector Defined’ by selecting it and choosing ‘Duplicate Symbol’ from the Symbols palette options menu. Rename the copied symbol to ‘Blueprint’ by double-clicking its name.

One important thing to know is that you should never alter the primary symbol ‘POWERGLOBE’ directly. That’s the symbol that is used in the actual globe. We always change one of the other symbols and will make it active as soon as our edits are done.

Now it is time to edit our newly created symbol ‘Blueprint’. Double-click on the symbol name to open it in editing mode. As you can see the symbol itself contains several map layers like ‘Country area,’ ‘River’ and more.

For our purpose, we don’t need the layers ‘Lake area’, ‘River’ and ‘Sea’. So set those layers invisible.

Create a new layer and call it ‘Background.’ Drag this layer under the layer ‘Country area’. Draw a rectangle that precisely fits the grid (if it’s not enabled turn on snapping by hitting CTRL+U or CMD+U on a Mac) and give the rectangle a fill of 90/50/25/5 (CMYK) or 7/110/149 (RGB). Set the outline of the rectangle to none.

Select all objects on the layers ‘Coastline’ and ‘Country boundary line’. As mentioned before, you can quickly select all objects on one layer by clicking on the layer name while pressing the ALT-key. By pressing SHIFT and ALT together, you can click on subsequent layers to select everything on it.

With everything selected set the stroke width to 0.5 pt, be sure the fill is set to None and set the color of the stroke to 35/15/10/0 (CMYK) or 165/192/211 (RGB).

Next select all objects on the layer ‘Country area’ and give them no fill.

Now we are going to emphasize Brazil by creating a fill that works well with this Blueprint style.

Make the layer ‘Country area’ active by selecting it in the Layers palette. Draw a line to the left of Brazil that’s 45 degrees rotated by pressing and holding SHIFT as you draw. We want this line to have the same properties as the ones on the layers ‘Country boundary line’ and ‘Coastline’. With the line selected click on the Eyedropper Tool and then click somewhere on the coastline to grab its properties.

Make a copy of this line to the right of Brazil by dragging the line to the left while pressing ALT and SHIFT together.

Select both lines and click the Blend Tool. With the Blend Tool selected click once on the left line and click once on the right line. Now double-click on the Blend Tool. This will bring up the ‘Blend Options’ dialog box. Turn on the Preview checkbox to see what is going on. Set the ‘Spacing’ to ‘Specified Steps’ and enter the number 35. Leave the rest as it is and click OK.

The layer ‘Country area’ contains shapes of every country. We are going to make a clipping mask of the lines and the shape of Brazil.
Lock all layers except ‘Country area’ and select the shape of Brazil.

Bring that shape to the top by right-clicking on it and choosing for Arrange / Bring to Front.

Select the lines and the shape of Brazil and go to Object / Clipping Mask / Make.

Double-click somewhere in the white area to close the editing mode of the symbol. We are going to make our edited symbol the active one by dragging and dropping the symbol ‘Blueprint’ onto the main symbol ‘POWERGLOBE’ while pressing and holding the ALT-key.

That’s it. Your globe should look like a Blueprint globe.

The End But Not the End: Edit On

Just by playing along with the ‘Lights’ layer, editing the drop shadow on the back, making layers in the symbol visible/invisible, you can quickly come up with all sorts of versions of this globe. All this is done in a matter of minutes.

It does not stop here. You know this is Adobe Illustrator, so you can edit the artwork any way you want. This was one simple workflow to quickly edit the looks of the globe, but you can do much more by using the tools you know in Illustrator and make this globe stand out.

Graphic design is a genre of its own, and it has its own norms, conventions as well as trends. Much like web design, graphic design too evolves with time and is never static or rigid. That said, graphic design is as much about making a statement and leaving an impression as it is about focusing on user experience and ease of accessibility. So, what are some of the major trends in graphic design that we can expect to see in 2016? This article answers precisely this very question.

Graphic Design Trends That Will Rock 2016

Typography

Typography and the use of fonts is one of the most crucial aspects of graphic design. In the absence of proper type and lettering, even the best of graphics might fall flat.

The trend seems to be, among other things, for not just legibility but also big and bolder fonts. The goal behind typography in graphic design is not only to convey a message but to leave an impression; and for this purpose, bolder and bigger fonts tend to do well.

Consider the recent work by SNASK for The Washington Post Magazine. The typography surely is bold and vigorous, but it does not stop at just that — by making judicious use of color within typography, SNASK have emphasized the message being sent via their design — something fun and tactile.

Going further into 2016, this trend of complementing typography with the help of colors and style will surely catch on even more.

Colors

Speaking in terms of color for graphic design, there are certain variables that need to be kept in mind.

First up, concepts such as Material Design and Flat Design have affected not only web and app, but also graphic design. Of course, flat isn’t always the best in graphic design, especially if you are looking for something purely for the printed media, but notwithstanding that, both Material Design elements and flat design are gaining favor in graphic design as far as the digital graphics are concerned.

As such, colors in graphic design tend to depend on those guiding concepts. Secondly, and more importantly, unlike web design where mute design principles such as reductionism and radical minimalism tend to do really well, graphic design at times needs to be “loud”, and eye-catching. Thus, brighter colors, such as pastels, neons, vibrant hues, etc. seem to be rising in stature this year, and they surely will dominate graphic design in 2016. Electric colors, pastel gradients and other similar shades too can be expected to be popular.

Abstract Design

Abstract design patterns have, for quite a while, been popular in art. However, in the past few months, abstract design has found favor in graphic design as well, both in the print and digital formats.

The most evident and popular application of abstract design in graphic design would be the use of geometric design patterns. Geometric shapes and patterns are rising steadily in graphic design, and have, in fact, become not just a trend but a design concept in themselves.

Concerning graphics, geometric shapes and patterns are often employed as supplements to chunks of text, logos, or as background graphics on the web. As such, geometric shapes are serving the dual purpose of being both illustrative as well as decorational.

You won’t have a hard time finding such geometric patterns for inspiration, such as this one over at Dribbble.

The polygonal shapes, as you can see, are being used to both complement and highlight the pictures and text, as well as to fill up the otherwise blank space.

The Use of Negative Space

Negative Space has been around for quite many years by now, and it has become a staple component of any good design – be it a graphic, a website or even a newspaper layout. However, negative space application in graphic design seems to be rising in uncharted areas, where it was not so prominent earlier on.

For instance, negative space is being used more and more in sign boards and logos. Furthermore, the negative space in graphic design rarely equates to whitespace (in web design, it has become almost a standard practice to use “negative space” and “whitespace” as synonyms). In fact, in graphic design, negative space is often treated with a darker color, such that the primary graphics stand out and are visible from a distance.

A good example would be this sample signboard and logo for a restaurant.

The negative space is treated with a shade of black, so as to make the white logo stand out, and cast a clear but prominent impression on the viewer. Furthermore, the card also relies on negative space to make the white text noticeable.

These are the graphic design trends that are expected to be on the rise in 2016. What are your thoughts on these trends? Share them in the comments below!

Those using Illustrator or a different vector program can’t avoid bezier curves. They allow the user to draw curves in any form or shape. However, it needs practice to be able to draw well-shaped curves. Especially when drawing letters like the curvy S, it is not easy to set the starting point so that the curves are proportioned correctly. That’s why there are drawing and writing programs that offer an alternative to bezier curves. The best-known should be the Spiral Tool of Inkscape. Spirals help to create harmonious, curved paths quickly.

The Problem with Bezier Curves

The way bezier curves work can be explained quickly. At the two ends of the curve, there are so-called control polygons. These are vectors that describe the course of the curve. These polygons allow for the creation of many entirely different curves. Those who tried to draw a semicircle via bezier curve know how difficult it is to place the control polygons accordingly. Drawing an S-curve or a spiral is similarly difficult.Bezier Curves Drawn in Illustrator

A steady course is a particularly important factor when creating harmonious fonts. As it’s hard to draw trails like that using bezier curves, software developer Raph Levien has developed the so-called spiral paths as an alternative to bezier curves. Spiral paths are created by choosing multiple spots towards which a single or multi-curve or spiral is supposed to orientate itself.

When creating a simple C-curve, three spots have to be defined. The first and the last spot define beginning and end of the curve and the remaining spot determines the radius of the curve. This way, complex curves can be drawn on the base of circular trails.

Use in FontForge and Inkscape

As spiral paths were mainly developed for font creation, they are utilized in the font tool FontForge for example. FontForge is free software for the creation of fonts. It is possible to create both bezier curves and spiral trails using so-called spyro points. It is possible to switch between bezier curve and spiral trail mode at all times.Trail Drawn With Spyro Points in FontForge

Even an existing bezier curve can be edited as a spiral path and vice versa. The advantages that spiral paths have over bezier curves become evident quickly after working with them.

The vector editor Inkscape also supports spiral trails. The application, however, does this a little differently from how it is used in FontForge. First, a standard bezier curve is drawn which then transforms into a well-shaped spiral. The result can thus only be seen when the path has been completed. However, you can edit the finished spiral effect afterward.

The spots of the spiral trail can be moved to adjust the length and the course of the path quickly.

Drawing a Spiral Trail Via Freehand Line

The option to draw a spiral in Inkscape using the freehand tool is interesting. The tool allows you to draw lines as if you were using a pen. That’s why the drawn contours are scrawly and shapeless most of the time. In combination with the spiral trail mode and a prior defined smoothing, however, curves can be created quickly and efficiently via a freehand line.Spiral Trail Drawn in Inkscape Via Freehand Line

The smoothing expects a value between 0 and 100. The freehand line remains untouched at 0. Every freehand line turns into a straight line at 100 percent smoothing. Values between the two allow the user to create more or less complex curves at will.

Conclusion and Related Links

Spiral trails can not only be helpful when creating fonts but also when designing logos or creating diagrams. It’s definitely worth looking into the specific tools of FontForge and Inkscape.

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/instead-bezier-curves-beautiful-drawings-using-spiral-tools.html/feed1Retro Textpress for Illustrator: 20 Great Retro Text Effects Bargained Awayhttps://www.noupe.com/design/retro-textpress-for-illustrator-20-great-retro-text-effects-bargained-away-85835.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/retro-textpress-for-illustrator-20-great-retro-text-effects-bargained-away-85835.html#commentsTue, 18 Nov 2014 13:00:29 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=85835You know and (most likely) love the concept of one-click purchasing. This is a convenient way of buying something, isn’t it? Imagine the same principle ported to design work. One click and your plain text layout looks great. This is exactly what today’s Deal of the Week will bring you. Apply a plethora of retro text effects to even the most common (and boring) fonts and see the magic happen.

With our Deal of the Week you’ll get 20 graphic styles for Adobe Illustrator. Apply them with a single click or tweak them to your liking. On top of the fantastic effects, this deal contains 15+ seamless patterns and textures topically fitting the retro style of the text effects.

Put it all together and lower the price down more than 50% and you are up for a great deal not to miss,

Retro Textpress – The Highlights

20 Graphic StylesGive your designs a real retro look with this set of 20 Graphic Styles for Adobe Illustrator. With just a single click you can apply these retro text effects to any of your projects for a fantastic and refreshing look.

Easy to CustomizeNeed to tweak some of the templates? Not a problem. You can easily customize any of the templates to create your own unique effects. Just use the appearance panel to alter the attributes until you have the exact look you want.

Usage ExamplesYour purchase of this Mighty Deal also gets you 1 AI file containing a number of usage examples. Take a look at just a number of infinite possibilities for using these retro text effects.

Resource FilesYou’ll also get an RTF file containing a list of links to tons of helpful resources that help you get started with text effects.

These are Examples of What the Effects Can Do

The Pricing Integrates Seamlessly with the Retro Topic

This collection of retro text effects is not expensive outside this deal. But who doesn’t like a solid saving of more than 50%? I know I do. So, if you are like me, go ahead and buy all 20 Graphic Styles and 18 Seamless Patterns and Textures for just $7. Or wait until the deal expires and pay 15 dollars again ;-)

This article is sponsored by Mighty Deals and as such an advertisement. Noupe does not participate from sales on an affiliate basis, however. Our new ads format “Deal of the Week” is run once a week at max. So if you want to book a deal for your product, get in touch with the friendly staff over at Commindo Media.

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/retro-textpress-for-illustrator-20-great-retro-text-effects-bargained-away-85835.html/feed1Lifelong Learning: Certified Online Tutorials by Adobe Experts Train Simple for a One-time Payment of 79 Dollarshttps://www.noupe.com/design/lifelong-learning-certified-online-tutorials-by-adobe-experts-train-simple-for-a-one-time-payment-of-79-dollars-85346.html
Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:00:32 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=85346Should you expect to get a lifelong membership of Train Simple through this deal, you are totally right. Our Deal of the Week gives you the opportunity to gain lifetime access to the massive portfolio of official Adobe training videos for a friction of the original price. If this is too far into the future for you, buy a year’s membership, still massively discounted. If you find more than 5,400 online training videos covering Adobe’s product portfolio from A to Z attractive, you should definitely read on…

As a designer there’s no getting round Adobe. Despite quite some criticism regarding their latest license model named Creative Cloud competition is scarce and Adobe apps still top the charts. I myself use their programs since the late Nineties and don’t see which apps should make me switch. While they are the top of the pops, Adobe’s apps aren’t easy to handle as long as you don’t know your ways around. You’ll go through a steep learning curve until you will be able to fully master the apps. Professional learning support is the best investment you can do.

Our "Deal of the Week", again presented by Mighty Deals, offers you to snap either a year’s or a lifelong membership at online course provider Train Simple. Besides getting access to more than 5,400 tutorial videos, you’ll be able to consume each course while on the go. Train Simple’s mobile apps do the trick.

Decide to buy the year’s membership and save 50 percent. Decide to buy the lifelong membership and save a whopping 97 percent. The only precondition is that you are fluent in English. Train Simple doesn’t offer their tutorials in any other language.

The Highlights of This Deal:

5,000+ Video TutorialsTalk about an education! Your access to Train Simple’s online library gives you more than 5,400 high-quality video tutorials to help you master Adobe’s popular software titles and even Web technology itself.

Learn Everything from Photoshop to HTML5Train Simple’s tutorials give you the training you need to completely learn Adobe’s design and Web development software including Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Edge Animate, Muse, Fireworks and more! You can even take lessons on Web technology like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, WordPress and more!

New Courses Added Frequently
Train Simple’s constantly updating their courses. The following new courses will be released during the month of October:

Graphic Design

Typography

Photography

PHP/MySQL

and more!

Interactive Course FilesEvery video tutorial offers a number of related course files. That means you can easily follow along with your instructor as he or she runs down the various lessons.

Become CertifiedThese aren’t just average, run-of-the-mill video tutorials, by the way. These are official lessons from Adobe about using its popular products. If you decide to follow a very specific Technology Track with Train Simple, you can actually become certified in a specific area of study! You just need to follow the pre-set tracks, watch a number of courses in order and pass the various quizzes and final exam to earn your certification.

Learn AnywhereTrain Simple’s invaluable videos can be watched anywhere you are! Thanks to mobile apps, you’re not just bound to your laptop or desktop computer. Now you can learn on the go by soaking up lessons on your mobile devices including tablets and iPads.

Top-Notch InstructorsTrain Simple is an official Adobe Authorized Training Center! That means you’ll be learning valuable lessons from some of the industry’s leading Adobe experts.

Used by Major CompaniesTrain Simple is so popular, it’s actually used today by some of the biggest companies around. Like who? Companies such as Google, Disney, Nike, Verizon, The Home Depot, USA Today and more use Train Simple in their organizations.

Now for the Second Important Part, the Price

If you want to buy a lifetime membership over at Train Simple you can always do so. The downside is it would set you back 2,500 dollars. With our Deal of the Week this price falls 97 percent to 79 dollars.

A year’s membership normally costs 100 dollars, but during the duration of this deal you can snag it for 47 dollars.

This article is sponsored by Mighty Deals and as such an advertisement. Noupe does not participate from sales on an affiliate basis, though. Our new ads format “Deal of the Week” is run once a week at max. So if you want to book a deal for your product, get in touch with the friendly staff over at Commindo Media.

]]>24+ Best Apps for Graphic Design Freelancershttps://www.noupe.com/design/24-best-apps-for-graphic-design-freelancers-85262.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/24-best-apps-for-graphic-design-freelancers-85262.html#commentsMon, 06 Oct 2014 08:00:28 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=85262One of the best ways to improve your workflow and time management as a graphic design freelancer is to use apps. Not just any app will do, however. You need ones that won’t waste your time by crashing and that help you both on the go and when around your computer. Our collection of the best apps for graphic design freelancers below are divided into design and photography apps and business management apps. As a graphic designer, you never know when inspiration might hit, which is why you want something in place to record your idea before you lose it. And we all hate the annoying business tasks, especially when they take too much time away from designing. The apps below should help solve both of these problems that can occur for graphic design freelancers.

In the list below, iOS, Android, and desktop apps are all included. Some of the apps are surprisingly free, others come with a small one-time fee, others come with a monthly or yearly subscription. I have tried to include lots of variety so that designers can find the perfect fit for their budgets and needs. Enjoy!

Design and Photography Apps

This incredible photo editing app comes with over 190 filters that allow anyone to create stunning or stylistic photos. It comes with standard editing tools, text labels, textures, and sharing features to make showing off your work easy.

This media painting app is completely compatible with Photoshop so that you can finish and touch up your designs on your computer. It comes with plenty of tools, such as brushes, full color, paint, erase, smudge tools, and more. It even allows up to five layers!

This mobile HD video camera allows you to set the focus and exposure individually, unlike Apple’s default camera app, allowing you to take stunning videos while on the go. You can also lock focus, exposure, and white balance individually. With different frame rates, motion FX, audio support, and professional grade 50 mbps image quality setting, Filmic Pro comes with a lot of features for such a low price!

Adobe Kuler actually has a free app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. See a color you like while out and about? Take a picture and use the Kuler app to extract the colors. Save your color themes for future use.

Adobe Ideas by Adobe

Free; iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

Another amazing app made completely free by Adobe, this is the iPhone companion to Illustrator. If you have a Creative Cloud membership with Adobe, you can sync your ideas with your Illustrator program for further refinement. You can even sync with Kuler and use your saved color themes. This app includes multiple brushes, color sliders, and up to 10 layers, along with the ability to move or resize each layer.

Using Photoshop Remote Connections, this app allows you to see how your Photoshop designs will appear on an actual iPhone. Once you enable the remote connection in Photoshop, you simply enter your password and changes you make in the software automatically are updated in the app. You can save the preview to your camera roll or share a flattened version of the image.

Adobe Photoshop Touch by Adobe

$4.99/£2.99; for iPhone and iPod Touch

The Photoshop app is finally available for iPhone and comes with core features found in the desktop version, such as layers, adjustments, selection tools, filters, graphical text, and even some extras like the ability to combine photos and use Refine Edge. Plus, Camera Fill works with your phone camera! Your free membership with Creative Cloud stores up to 2GB data, has automatic syncing between devices, and comes with the ability to share designs. More features are available on the iPad and Android versions for $9.99 each.

Marksta is a handy little app that helps you add watermarks to photos before uploading to the web. It comes with lots of features for customizing your watermarks, including adding multiple lines of text, including your logo, customizing the borders, adding effects to layers, adding or removing GPS geo tags, and much more. Even multiple typefaces are available.

This app allows you to record lots of short clips to make a short 3 to 15 second film. You can even add filters for a unique look and share your film on Instagram, Vine, or Facebook. And if you find yourself wanting more, upgrade to Pro for soundtracks, clip merging, segment rearranging, and other advanced controls.

You may also want to try the Classic Hipstamatic app, $1.99, a camera app for iOS that allows you to switch lenses, flashes, and films for giving photographs an analog look. Check out Hipstamatic for more awesome apps they’ve created for iOS.

Just so Android users don’t think I’ve forgotten them, I’ve included a photo editor for Android. It comes with all the basic photo editing abilities, including sharpen, blur, and adjustments for brightness/ saturation/ contrast/ color temperature. Plus, it also comes with stickers, the ability to draw and add text, photo effects, and frames. If you want more, just pay for the extra effects and frame packs you need.

This app could save a lot of time for designers working with vectors. Need a specific vector shaped like, say, that plant in the corner of your office? Simply snap a photo and use Vector Snap to quickly turn the photo into a nice, unique vector image, instantly! This app works by tracing images to SVG, which you can then save as SVG or PNG. Modify the design using the app’s pixel and vector filters, text tool, or advanced color lab, or save it and fine tune it on your desktop.

This app helps you create designs with beautiful, consistent fonts by giving you access to over 23,000 web fonts from places like fonts.com, Google, MyFonts, Adobe TypeKit, and more. Easily test HTML/CSS across devices so that you can see exactly how a font will look, no matter how users access a website. Visual controls help with line spacing, letter spacing, and line height. You can create a style guide and so much more that it’s really unbelievable this app is so cheap.

Business Management Apps

This app is great for new freelancers because it calculates estimates for your projects. My Price figures out how much you should charge a client based on a number of calculations such as if you are charging by hour or by project, your professional background, the kind of client, total cost of the project, industry standards, etc.

This awesome accounting app provides plans individuals or business teams, with even a free option that allows for limited clients and projects. The payment plans allow varying numbers of users but all give unlimited clients, projects, and invoices. Just a few of the tasks you can accomplish with Harvest include tracking your time on tasks, reports, invoicing, acceptance of payments, excellent tracking of expenses, lots of add-ons for accounting, project management, and much more.

This app works amazingly well, according to reviews on iTunes. It makes accounting for your business fast and easy. Create invoices, accept credit card payments (with a small, flat fee), track invoices and when they are paid, overdue, or even viewed by your client. Pretty much, it can do everything an expense accounting app can do, minus all the extra bells and whistles that most freelancers don’t need.

This is a killer app for keeping your graphic design business organized. Create lists, share with others, and have conversations about lists using the Comments feature. You can even set reminders, due dates, and receive push notifications so you don’t miss a deadline. Just like Google lists, you can send emails to Wunderlist to create a task. Plus, it comes with real-time sync for keeping up with your list between devices.

This incredible bookkeeping app also includes invoicing and time-tracking with lots of excellent features. The free use allows you to see 120 transactions or you can upgrade for unlimited transactions or to also add other features, which means you only pay for the features you want. It’s easy to use and works great, and you can even add bank and credit card accounts, customers, suppliers, expenses, and earnings. Transactions are easy to add and you can even set recurring transactions, such as for monthly expenses. It even comes with backup, online syncing, and much more.

The OmniFocus app is another task organizer, but much beefier than many out there. This one allows you to use features such as Perspectives, Contexts, and Focus to keep tasks organized and help you accomplish the most important tasks first. Much more comes with this app, making the one-time fee highly worth it. Plus, check out more apps from Omni Group, including OmniGraffle (an app for creating prototypes, mind maps, and other awesome graphics), OmniOutliner (a powerful note taker app), and much more.

Asana provides great project management for teams, allowing your design team to send tasks instead of emails for easier collaboration on projects. Set team goals and keep track with different features, including notification updates to help you finish tasks on time. free for unlimited teams of up to 15 members and unlimited projects and tasks

Emails are one of my least favorite tasks during the work day, but Mailstrom is the perfect app for getting rid of thousands of emails at once! I about turned cartwheels when I found this app. It bundles similar emails together so that you can organize or delete easily, has a tight privacy policy, and it even helps you unsubscribe from emails quickly and easily. For the free trial, Mailstrom takes a snapshot of your latest 5,000 emails, and you can eliminate 25%. If you find you really like all the time you just saved, then you can sign up for a plan to finish the rest for either $4.95/month or $49.95/year.

With Bidsketch, you can put together client proposals that look incredible and professional very quickly. Plus, it comes with the ability to accept electronic signatures, embed images and videos, and even additional services that clients can choose to accept when viewing the proposal. Try this awesome app free for 14 days. The freelancer price is $29/month, and more users and team collaboration features are available for higher priced plans.

With this password manager plus digital wallet app, you only have to remember your one password for Dashlane. Don’t lose this one, however, because Dashlane makes sure your information is highly secure by never storing your password in their database. This is why it is so safe to include even your credit card information, receipts, and every password for every account you ever have. Dashlane will ask you for your password and then autofill for you. Accessing websites via Safari on your iOS devices allows for fingerprint sign in. Plus, it even comes with a tool for helping you generate extremely secure passwords, automatic alerts when Dashlane believes any of your passwords are breached, and a security dashboard shows weak passwords that you may want to update. The free version only allows use of Dashlane on one device; or sign up for $39.99/year for unlimited devices and automatic backup of data. This app also provides flexible pricing for teams.

CX Cloud Solution

Custom packages; for Android, iOS

This white label cloud solution was created specifically for businesses needing a cloud storage, for backing up data, providing products to customers, etc. In fact, customers can access data through mobile apps or on their desktop, and the white label allows you to customize the look with your logo and brand colors. CX is great for graphic designers to back up and share portfolios, or for sharing projects with customers. It also comes with automatic uploading and file syncing and even allows customers to easily share and chat with you or each other. CX is constantly testing for quality control, making it very reliable and highly secure. Even better, you can pick and choose features if you don’t need everything in the full package.

What About You?

There are simply way too many awesome apps to list in a single post, so the list above is quite limited in comparison to what is available. This is why it would be great to hear from you on your favorite apps. What do you use to help you improve your work flow as a graphic designer, or even in your personal life? Do you use any of the apps listed above? Feel free to share in the comments below!

(dpe)

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/24-best-apps-for-graphic-design-freelancers-85262.html/feed3Typography Without Limits: 40 Fresh Adobe Illustrator Text Effectshttps://www.noupe.com/design/typography-without-limits-40-fresh-adobe-illustrator-text-effects-83478.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/typography-without-limits-40-fresh-adobe-illustrator-text-effects-83478.html#commentsThu, 14 Aug 2014 11:00:03 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=83478Wondering how to start working with Adobe Illustrator without getting overwhelmed by its endless possibilities? Then begin your acquaintance from tutorials that are aimed to fill the gaps of your knowledge. Nothing can be compared to this kind of educational material, especially when devoted graphic designers reveal their secrets and techniques. Of course, there are a considerable number of tutorials that cover everything from creating user interface templates to drawing character designs, and it is really difficult to make up your mind in which sphere to plunge in. However if you want to slowly but surely move in this direction, you should take your first steps with tutorials concerning text effects. These, at least as a rule, resort to simpler solutions based on basic tools and standard techniques. Besides, spending neither more nor less than an hour of your time you will be able to convert a plain lettering into something eccentric and innovative, having restyled the original typography completely. You can find tutorials that will help you obtain impressive results from a simple type by enlivening it with various mind-blowing yet easy-to-repeat effects. Ready? Let’s go…

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/typography-without-limits-40-fresh-adobe-illustrator-text-effects-83478.html/feed7Get Prepared: 40+ Top Free Vectors for Spring Holidayshttps://www.noupe.com/design/get-prepared-40-top-free-vectors-for-spring-holidays-80990.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/get-prepared-40-top-free-vectors-for-spring-holidays-80990.html#commentsFri, 14 Feb 2014 09:00:47 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=80990Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Thanksgiving (in the US) are such big holidays in the winter that it can be easy to forget the smaller holiday that occur at the end of winter and into spring. Valentine’s Day is today, so we are little late for that, but we still have St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and even Memorial Day at the end of spring.

Designers have probably already begun to get requests from clients for promotional designs for the upcoming holidays or even just for spring blow out sales. Even if you haven’t yet had any spring holiday graphic design requests yet, you may want to bookmark some roundups of resources when you come across them. Having resources already on hand is one of the best ways to save yourself time for the important part of a project – the actual design!

The following roundup includes free vectors for spring and spring holidays, and most of them are also free for commercial use. Remember, though, to always double check with the designer’s Terms of Use before including in a commercial design. The ones below marked “Personal Use” are vectors that were specifically marked as such.

All of the items below are some of the greatest free vectors found on the web. Take a look! Whether you need four leaf clovers, Easter eggs, flags, or simply some spring flowers, you are sure to find something to use in one of your graphic design projects for the next few months.

Spring Vector Sets

In the spring, designs with flowers, new leaves, grass, and butterflies abound. Add some of the following to your collection of vectors for spring graphic or web design.

Spring Floral Background by

Flowers Present

Free Vector Butterfly Pattern – Personal Use

Vintage Floral Ornaments Set

Floral Blossoms Icons Sets

Swirling Floral Decorations Set

Decorative Flowers Graphics

Blue Flowers Set

Stems of Grass Vector

Plant Silhouettes Free Graphics

Flying Bird Wing and Swirly Floral

St. Patrick’s Day Vector Sets

This year, St. Patrick’s Day falls on March 17th. If you haven’t yet had any requests for St. Paddy designs, then you may want to reach out to your clients to suggest they offer a sale on this holiday – with you as the designer of the advertisement, of course!

Nature Green

Clover Leaf Rainbow Valley

St. Patrick’s Day Vector Elements

St. Patrick’s Day Icons Set

St. Patrick’s Icon Set

Clover Leaves Set

Shamrock Designs Set

Mug of Beer Vector

Pot of Gold Rainbow

Free Leprechaun with Box Vector

Easter Vector Sets

Easter is a spring holiday celebrated nearly worldwide, so it may be wise for you to gather some excellent vectors. This year, Easter will be held on April 20, so it is approaching fast!

Easter Eggs Set 2

Icon Vector Easter Pack

Easter Eggs Vector

Easter Bunny Silhouette

Christianity Graphics Set

Easter Silhouettes Set

Baby Chicken

Cinco de Mayo/ Memorial Day

While Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday, it is also widely celebrated in the states by citizens with a Mexican heritage. Memorial Day is also a big US holiday that falls at the end of May. Most retail stores take advantage of both of these holidays by offering big summer sales to help bring customers in for new summer products.

Mexico Independence Day Flying Flag Vector

Dancing Couple

Hat Vector

Floating Balloons

US Flags Vectors

American Background

Statue of Liberty Vector

Mother’s Day Vectors

Countries around the globe celebrate Mother’s Day or Women’s Day, and most hold the celebration in spring. While some celebrate Mother’s Day as early as February, the majority of countries celebrate this honoring of mothers on the second Sunday of May.

Arabescos Swirl Flourish Vector

Heart Designs Set

Blooming Flowers Graphics Set

Antique Frame Vector Graphics

Free Seamless Floral Pattern Vector

Free Elegant Card with Red Rose

Flower Icons Set

Floral Scrolls Design

Do you have any favorite free vectors not included in the list above that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below!

Mike Swanson, though having been aboard Microsoft for more than 11 years, has created a plugin for Adobe Ilustrator that resembles a good wine. The older it gets, the better it grows to be. More than two years ago, still employed at the Redmond company, Swanson pushed out the first version of AI -> Canvas. At that time HTML5 canvas was already of some prominence, but who would have dared to use the element in production environments? Today things look different, entirely different…

]]>Mike Swanson, though having been aboard Microsoft for more than 11 years, has created a plugin for Adobe Ilustrator that resembles a good wine. The older it gets, the better it grows to be. More than two years ago, still employed at the Redmond company, Swanson pushed out the first version of AI -> Canvas. At that time HTML5 canvas was already of some prominence, but who would have dared to use the element in production environments? Today things look different, entirely different…

AI -> Canvas updated for CS6

What all has changed? First, Swanson is no longer working for Microsoft, but running his own startup. Microsoft still offers the plugin, but does nothing to support it, not to think of updating it. With the release of CS6 AI -> Canvas seized to function. At least that’s true for the version to be downloaded at the official Microsoft site.

Swanson took it personally and felt responsible to ensure his plugin a life after Microsoft and CS5. So he went to learn about the new requirements of CS6, which turned out to be not so complicated. Since then version 1.1 is available free of charge as a download on his private blog. The feature set has not been extended in comparison to version 1, which is still available on the Microsoft channel. The important difference is, version 1.1 runs on Windows 7 and 8, Mac OS X v10.7 (Lion) and v10.8 (Mountain Lion). It serves for both the 32- as well as the 64-bit edition of Illustrator CS6.

Installation is simple. From the single zipped download, containing all available versions, choose the appropriate and store it here, depending on your platform:

Keep in mind, that version 1.1 will only run in CS6. All Creative Suites before, starting from CS3, will continue to work with version 1 of AI -> Canvas.

AI -> Canvas: What and How?

The canvas element is not much more than a container for complex graphical processes and applications. All the necessary programming and descriptions are done using JavaScript. When I say JavaScript we will agree that I’m not talking about illustrators or other graphic designers.

With AI -> Canvas any Illustrator aficionado can write functional applications for the canvas element, even without being able to code a single line of JavaScript. AI -> Canvas works in the form of a simple export command from within Adobe Illustrator. The plugin creates the necessary script code as well as all other assets. Vectorgraphics that cannot be displayed via canvas natively are turned into rasterized images. Links are embedded where necessary. Even animations, such as transitions, movements, easings, gradients and more can be created directly from the Illustrator environment.

AI -> Canvas: Examples

As I said before, AI -> Canvas is, not typically software-like, like good wine. At the time of its inception the plugin’s functionality was already astonishing, while not of a lot of everyday relevance. With the rise of HTML5 support in modern browsers, the canvas element becomes more important by the hour. Now with Swanson’s update to CS6, AI -> Canvas might earn late honors or breakthrough even.

The world is not short of good causes and people who stand for them. Some of these causes are very prominent, practically omnipresent, while others could well use some more publicity. Now you have the chance to support a good cause you personally care lots about. With your help in terms of design you could earn your charity 1,000 Pounds/Euros. Corbis Images makes it possible with their brand-new contest "Make Your Mark - Design For A Cause". If you know your way around Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, InkScape or whatever tool you see fit, this one is for you.

]]>The world is not short of good causes and people who stand for them. Some of these causes are very prominent, practically omnipresent, while others could well use some more publicity. Now you have the chance to support a good cause you personally care lots about. With your help in terms of design you could earn your charity 1,000 Pounds/Euros. Corbis Images makes it possible with their brand-new contest “Make Your Mark – Design For A Cause”. If you know your way around Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, InkScape or whatever tool you see fit, this one is for you.

Design A Poster, Earn Your Good Cause A Nice Little Sum

You breathe life into Photoshop or any other graphics tool? And you breathe life into the community by supporting one or more worthy causes? “Make Your Mark” lets you combine these two parts of yourself. Create a poster for the charity you are passionate about with the tools you are passionate about. There are no restrictions on the topic but a social focus is mandatory. The best work will have both a high level of technical ability and also carry a strong, clear and engaging message.

There is only a single preposition: You must use one or more images from the Corbis platform. Then it is totally up to you what you create and how you create it. The winner earns 1,000 Pounds/Euros for the chosen good cause. His or – of course – her creation will be featured in the well-known print magazine Computer Arts as well as in the online magazines Novum and Creative Bloq. The winner and the next nine shortlisted artists will receive a Wacom Intuos5 Tablet.

Entries close on the 25th of November 2012. The contest website provides you with all the necessary details, such as resolutions, formats and the like.

Now go, score a success for you and your good cause!

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/corbis-poster-contest-make-your-mark-design-for-a-cause-73234.html/feed340 Amazing Tutorials For Illustrators And Photoshoppershttps://www.noupe.com/design/40-amazing-illustrator-tutorials-for-photoshoppers-73125.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/40-amazing-illustrator-tutorials-for-photoshoppers-73125.html#commentsThu, 08 Nov 2012 16:42:52 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=73125
The following roundup of high-grade and elaborate Illustrator tutorials will not only satisfy the fans of vector-graphics. It is also bound to inspire the Photoshop artist. This is because a lot of the effects shown can be achieved using Photoshop as well, though in slightly different ways. You will definitely have your aha-moments here. The spectrum ranges from infographics over typography to posters and really lovely comic characters. Every designer will find his own favorite here.]]>The following roundup of high-grade and elaborate Illustrator tutorials will not only satisfy the fans of vector-graphics. It is also bound to inspire the Photoshop artist. This is because a lot of the effects shown can be achieved using Photoshop as well, though in slightly different ways. You will definitely have your aha-moments here. The spectrum ranges from infographics over typography to posters and really lovely comic characters. Every designer will find his own favorite here.

]]>https://www.noupe.com/design/40-amazing-illustrator-tutorials-for-photoshoppers-73125.html/feed13Exploring Geometry: 30 Exceptional Polygonal Art Illustrationshttps://www.noupe.com/design/exploring-geometry-30-polygonal-art-illustrations-71607.html
https://www.noupe.com/design/exploring-geometry-30-polygonal-art-illustrations-71607.html#commentsThu, 11 Oct 2012 06:30:47 +0000http://www.noupe.com/?p=71607
Now and then different modern artists create artworks that force you to look at ordinary pictures in a whole new way. With a strong hint at the cubist style, polygonal art illustrations become extremely popular nowadays. Just like the old-school video games, this art direction inspires by exceptional interconnection between simple geometric forms, mainly with sharp corners and offbeat color combination. At first sight, every artwork is a giant collection of triangular shapes which recreates a feeling of depth and volume by means of light and dark tone of the same color that is used as a background. But if you take a closer look, you can definitely find circles, irregular polyhedra and segments with smooth lines that harmoniously complement each other and add slight touches of multilayerness.]]>Now and then different modern artists create artworks that force you to look at ordinary pictures in a whole new way. With a strong hint at the cubist style, polygonal art illustrations become extremely popular nowadays. Just like the old-school video games, this art direction inspires by exceptional interconnection between simple geometric forms, mainly with sharp corners and offbeat color combination. At first sight, every artwork is a giant collection of triangular shapes which recreates a feeling of depth and volume by means of light and dark tone of the same color that is used as a background. But if you take a closer look, you can definitely find circles, irregular polyhedra and segments with smooth lines that harmoniously complement each other and add slight touches of multilayerness.

This effect can easily be accomplished by using Photoshop or Illustrator. You can turn almost any design into a magnificent polygonal illustration by injecting more artistic flair through filling all spaces with abstract forms of different color. Simply choose an image with a strong silhouette and pick up a limited color palette. For better colorization you can apply different filters (for example a posterize filter) to lessen the amount of appropriate colors. Step by step, put up flat polygons and scrupulously work out shades and lighting, making some areas bulging and sharp with abruptly broken off-color transitions. Continue this process until your peculiar collage gets to such an extent that it will seem to jump off the screen.

Such amazing changes from the original artworks to polygonal art can be dealt upon futuristic works of art, famous portraits, never-to-be-forgotten pop culture icons from our childhood to images of everyday objects, so you definitely have a lot of space to express yourself. Today I have collected 30 exceptional examples of multi-dimensional polygon masterpieces that amaze with clear shapes and peculiar color palettes.

Since a pixel is considered to be a special case of a polygon, pixellated illustrations should be also included in our list. Although, such polygonal mosaics look a bit blurred and messy, but they definitely fascinate viewers by subtle outlines and truly neat performance.

Geometry in all its glory

The approach of coming up with something impressive using simple tools becomes very popular nowadays, especially when its creation is considered to be accessible to everyone with vivid imagination. Polygonal art recreates its own mood and atmosphere involving more and more people with the world of simple geometry. Everyone can be a part of it – and this is the main charm. So tell us, what do you think of such a rough method of creating illustrations? Does clean-cut graphic inspire you?